During Ramadan the Gates of Heaven Are Open
July 14, 201317
the day after not guilty
a sunday, during Ramadan
a town hall for young people
deliberately marginalized.
they assert themselves at the center
of public discourse. of course
where they belong, have always
been. the wooden stage
painted Black in a second-floor
loft overlooking Milwaukee Avenue
& Division Street.
two Muslim women
take the stage. one
after the other. one
in a headscarf. one
not.
Ashley
survived the foster-care system
was adopted by a hip-hop mother
in Uptown & kinda looks white
but who knows, really. she converted
to Islam in high school. a super volunteer
at IMAN, the Inner-City Muslim Action Network.
she was unsure what to say
but decided to speak
from the heart. when she heard
the verdict she cried & dry heaved
cuz there was nothing inside to throw up.
she is weeping now, telling a room
of young people, who gathered here
cuz they had nowhere else to go,
during Ramadan the gates of heaven
are open. she is fasting & disciplined
like the work & organizing needs to be.
Farwa is Pakistani
in all-Black everything.
she too did not want to speak
but was moved to do so.
this young woman who weeps
open & often, a chronic lament
& heartache,
is poised today. mourning
in crisis, righteous
she is
moved to tell the story of Ashura,
a day of fasting & rage
where a community does not say salaam.
there is no peace today
it is ok
to rage today
to pray today
for patience.
these two women
american muezzin
young & brave
& calling us to adhan
to salat, to pray
where we gather:
in the name of Emmett Till
in the name of Trayvon Martin
in the name of Rekia Boyd
in the name of Oscar Grant
in the name of Fred Hampton
in the name of the many names we cannot name